Democracy and Perishability

Trade predates agriculture. The advent of ag sped up the trend towards specialization in temperate zones, but not in the tropics. Why, perishability. If you can store what you make (cereals) you trade it. And trade leads to cities, stable gov’t, and a tilt towards democracy. But tropical produce (bananas) was traditionally hard to store and trade. So Democracy, trade and perishability, all intertwined.

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